New water heater...

[BACyclone]

We bought our home three years ago and unfortunately we are finding some of the upgrades the previous owners did while on the surface looked awesome are turning out to be crap. They installed a tankless water heater in 2017 but we had a repairman come out and he said there are several things wrong with it and it's a brand that went belly up in 2018 so the warranty is null etc.

We had to get a new one and we opted for a tankless one again but it's costing roughly ten grand which seems outrageously expensive to me even for a regular size tankless. My better half doesn't seem to think it's too much. Am I wrong? I looked into cost for this and I'm finding like $4000 on the HIGH end. Are we being duped?

I replaced mine myself in 2020 with a model I picked up from Menards. We only have one bathroom so I went with the in-stock model (you can order larger ones) and it's been fantastic.

The only tricky thing (I was unsure about) was routing the exhaust as we are on natural gas and I kept using that heat source. So I had to buy the expensive double-wall tubing kit, and hooked that up to the existing tank exhaust which runs up to my roof through an old chimney duct -- all the exposed part is the double-wall piping.

It took me about a full weekend and several trips to Menards to get all the correct fittings for the water hookups. I think the heater itself was $800. I have less than $2k into the system all-inclusive. (I see today the model I purchased runs ~$1200 before rebate)

If you're also using gas, make sure the diameter of the gas line you connect to the heater is the correct size.

 

[clone4life82]

We bought our home three years ago and unfortunately we are finding some of the upgrades the previous owners did while on the surface looked awesome are turning out to be crap. They installed a tankless water heater in 2017 but we had a repairman come out and he said there are several things wrong with it and it's a brand that went belly up in 2018 so the warranty is null etc.

We had to get a new one and we opted for a tankless one again but it's costing roughly ten grand which seems outrageously expensive to me even for a regular size tankless. My better half doesn't seem to think it's too much. Am I wrong? I looked into cost for this and I'm finding like $4000 on the HIGH end. Are we being duped?

10k is high. Is this electric or gas? When replacing a gas tank type water heater about a year ago, I was getting costs in the 3500-4000 range without changing much of anything. I decided to purchase my own and do it myself and am happy I did, I bumped up the tank size on it which required a little bit of piping work and the cost of the water heater and parts cost me a whopping $1800.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

10k is high. Is this electric or gas? When replacing a gas tank type water heater about a year ago, I was getting costs in the 3500-4000 range without changing much of anything. I decided to purchase my own and do it myself and am happy I did, I bumped up the tank size on it which required a little bit of piping work and the cost of the water heater and parts cost me a whopping $1800.

I had to replace a 40 gallon gas last year and it cost me $3800 … hopefully this one lasts quite awhile.

 

[nfrine]

We had to get a new one and we opted for a tankless one again but it's costing roughly ten grand which seems outrageously expensive to me even for a regular size tankless. My better half doesn't seem to think it's too much. Am I wrong? I looked into cost for this and I'm finding like $4000 on the HIGH end. Are we being duped?

Yes.

 

[TitanClone]

Tankless are crap if you want really hot showers. I've heard of people doubling down with a tankless connected to a standard tank that basically guarantees hot water even if you have multiple showers running plus a dishwasher and laundry.

 

[CYdTracked]

Service Legends would definitely fall into this camp as well. Generally most of the ones that can afford to advertise on TV, you're paying for that marketing.

Yeah I can believe that too. I replaced an HVAC system through them and still have a maintenance plan and warranty with them but I was comfortable with the pricing I got after the time. Maybe could have saved a bit going with someone else but likely would have been a cheaper brand and quality of system that went in if i did. I definitely won't let them touch my plumbing now that they do that too as I have a friend that owns his own plumbing business. He used to work for Golden Rule a long time back and the stories he has about how they gouge you doesn't surprise me after the expirience I had with then once.

 

[CYdTracked]

Tankless are crap if you want really hot showers. I've heard of people doubling down with a tankless connected to a standard tank that basically guarantees hot water even if you have multiple showers running plus a dishwasher and laundry.

Either they don't have the heat setting right or don't properly maintain it. We bought a house that had one and had to turn the temp down as the hot water was way too hot coming out of the faucet. You need to flush them with a descaling agent once a year too to prevent calcium build ups that will affect the life and performance of them too.

 

[CYdTracked]

Tankless water heaters are for hippies.

Guess you enjoy paying higher energy bills and wating for hot water when you use a lot of it at once? I never had one until we bought the house we currently owned that already had one and when it needs to be replaced I'm going with tankless again. Constant hot water throughout the house no matter how much you are using is a big plus when you are a family of 4 and have the washer dishwasher and showers sometimes all going at once. Add in some weekend guests that also use the shower and it sure bests waiting on the hot water to recharge if you have a tank.

 

[dmclone]

3 years ago. 50 gallon Rheem w/power vent. The power vent adds a lot to the cost.

 

[TXCyclones]

Tankless water heaters are for hippies.

Tankless water heaters are for people who have ever had their water go cold while they're in the shower. Because **** that. Aside from the convenience, tankless water heaters are for people who might appreciate a $25 gas bill during the Spring - Fall simply because you're no longer heating water 24 hours a day for the :30minutes you actually need hot water.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

Tankless water heaters are for people who have ever had their water go cold while they're in the shower. Because **** that. Aside from the convenience, tankless water heaters are for people who might appreciate a $25 gas bill during the Spring - Fall simply because you're no longer heating water 24 hours a day for the :30minutes you actually need hot water.

Whatever tree hugger. I like letting all the water in the tank go cold and then heating it up again just for funsies.

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Tankless are crap if you want really hot showers. I've heard of people doubling down with a tankless connected to a standard tank that basically guarantees hot water even if you have multiple showers running plus a dishwasher and laundry.

Lol. I live on freezing cold well water and our propane tankless runs 3 showers at the same time for as long as anyone wants to shower.

To the OP:
Navien 240A2 - $2384 plus install. Installed this past fall. Yes, the $10k quote is a rape job. Should be half that at max.

 

[jcyclonee]

We bought our home three years ago and unfortunately we are finding some of the upgrades the previous owners did while on the surface looked awesome are turning out to be crap. They installed a tankless water heater in 2017 but we had a repairman come out and he said there are several things wrong with it and it's a brand that went belly up in 2018 so the warranty is null etc.

We had to get a new one and we opted for a tankless one again but it's costing roughly ten grand which seems outrageously expensive to me even for a regular size tankless. My better half doesn't seem to think it's too much. Am I wrong? I looked into cost for this and I'm finding like $4000 on the HIGH end. Are we being duped?

We replaced our water heater about 3 years ago. It is not tankless. Prior to that, code changed in regards to the vent pipe (Maybe something to do with metal mesh inside the pipe? I'm not exactly sure). It was very expense to have that fully replaced. I have a friend that's a plumber that replaced the water heater without replacing the vent pipe.

If a lot of the cost is due to changing the vent pipes, you could ask a handyman to do it or see if a plumber (that works for somebody else) would do it as a side job.

My memory could be way off on this but something did change in this code from when we initially built our house in 2004. I know that at least one of our neighbors did pay for the full change.

 

[dahliaclone]

Lots of good info and insights here so thank you. Glad I asked...seemed way off.

 

[dmclone]

We replaced our water heater about 3 years ago. It is not tankless. Prior to that, code changed in regards to the vent pipe (Maybe something to do with metal mesh inside the pipe? I'm not exactly sure). It was very expense to have that fully replaced. I have a friend that's a plumber that replaced the water heater without replacing the vent pipe.

If a lot of the cost is due to changing the vent pipes, you could ask a handyman to do it or see if a plumber (that works for somebody else) would do it as a side job.

My memory could be way off on this but something did change in this code from when we initially built our house in 2004. I know that at least one of our neighbors did pay for the full change.

Was it a power vent? Instead of running to the side of our house, ours goes to the roof, which requires a fan (power vent) that sits on top of the water heater.

 

[CascadeClone]

Tankless water heaters are for people who have ever had their water go cold while they're in the shower. Because **** that. Aside from the convenience, tankless water heaters are for people who might appreciate a $25 gas bill during the Spring - Fall simply because you're no longer heating water 24 hours a day for the :30minutes you actually need hot water.

My gas bill is $25-35 in the summer months and we have a 60 gallon tank. And a gas stove that gets used 3-4 times a week, even in summer.

I've never understood the tankless thing at all. Feels like a gimmick to get you to spend twice as much for something that really isn't discernably different.

 

[mynameisjonas]

Plenty of awesome options for 40 or 50 gallons in the $1500 range and maybe $700 to get it installed.

$10k is ******* ridiculous!

 

[jcyclonee]

Was it a power vent? Instead of running to the side of our house, ours goes to the roof, which requires a fan (power vent) that sits on top of the water heater.

That does sound sorta familiar. I should probably ask my plumber dude.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

Lots of good info and insights here so thank you. Glad I asked...seemed way off.

you're welcome

 

[CYedUp]

They make a mixing valve that you can put on a 40 gallon tank. Basically this allows you to set your water heater to a hotter temp like 140-150 and the valve will mix cold water back in at the exit point increasing your capacity. The valve controls the temp coming into the home so you will not get scolded. We put one on ours and have never ran out of hot water.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Resideo-Braukmann-AMX300TLF-DirectConnect-Water-Heater-Kit-w-3-4-Mixing-Valve-8-SS-Corrugated-Hose-Connector-Lead-Free?utm_source=google_ad&utm_medium=pmax&utm_campaign=pmax_nca_test&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt9i6VmCHEefvYAPPLW8MsdLeYWsDkWmdPmWi35ALbP55xIRRWLdokxoC9H8QAvD_BwE